33 
Simple Methods of Photogrammetry: Easy and Fast 
answers from experts 
:hnologies whose use 
ns that they can’t take 
iperate those systems: 
iuld be promoted and 
lecialized technicians, 
fore. Photogrammetry 
is an ideal system for 
ke possible to operate 
specially adapted to 
)ffice equipment. The 
onservation. With it 1 
years later, in 1973,1 
C.I.P.A. Those were 
tti's first attempts to 
) and the use of some 
in extensive projects 
elated to the Cultural 
al photogrammetry. 1 
ers start but their cost 
I had the means and 
ier and, what is more 
ailability of effective 
e systems and, above 
w cost and whose use 
pplied specifically to 
grammes of common 
iputation of canevas, 
second software I use 
e is a programme for 
computer screen. All 
any circumstance. In 
graphs, obtained with 
asier to work fast and 
s necessary on field, 
outside the office. Secondly, its cost not superior to 6.000 US$. I am supposing thati it should not be necessary to buy the 
topographic instruments, as they can be rented in most countries at reasonable prices. Moreover, some of the procedures are designed 
to avoid topographic measurements in order to simplify both the process and the necessary equipment. All of them are situated in the 
column designated as simple systems in the diagram shown at the Olinda Symposium (Fig. 1) which, due to unknown reason, is not 
visible in the proceedings published in CD-ROM. 
Investment in 
office equipment 
Investment in 
field equipment 
Field work time 
Office work time 
ji. 1 li 
Accuracy 
(errors) 
Topographic Small Big High 
instruments instruments instruments precision 
Investment i¡ 
office equipr 
Investment i 
field equipmentHand 
measuring 
Small 
tools 
Simple 
systems 
Office work 
Fig. 1: Optimization of architectural survey 
These personal experiences 1 think can be useful for many cases. The needs that the Heritage protection and safeguard raise in the 
field of documentation are great and continue to increase. The concept of Heritage is constantly enlarged and new of its elements are 
endangered every day. It is urgent, therefore and firstly, to document them adequately. To document means to know, and that 
knowledge is essential in order to preserve. And this problem is even more compelling in developing countries where much of their 
Heritage is badly known and is in serious danger. It is unavoidable to provide efficient answers. Showing the achievements and 
possibilities of photogrammetry is useless if those successes are based only on sophisticated and expensive system, only available to 
experts and specialized centres and institutions, and with economic costs completely unaccessible to great part of the institutions 
responsible for the Heritage in many parts of the world. In that way, we will only be able to solve a minor part of the problem. It 
may be the most conspicuous one, but that solution is far from being the most realistic and effective one. 
2. THE TOOLS 
The rectifier software ASRix (Fig2) has been developed by Steve Nickerson, a CIPA member with a great experience in surveying, 
with the collaboration of André Streilein for the mathematical model. It is a software easy to use that barely requires any previous 
learning and provides great possibilities in every field of Heritage documentation. Flat elements are very common in architecture and 
rectified images are a simple and fast way to document them. This method can complement other ones that rectify vector drawings. 
VSD software has a system to restitute from individual photographs that allows the rectification of the drawings performed over the 
oblique images. Because of its simplicity and minimum cost must be mentioned the software Homograph, (Fig 3) which was 
developed by Prof. Ramón Maestre at Alicante University. A small book that includes the software presents this simple application 
that works in AutoCAD and enables the rectification of the drawings made on oblique images in a simple way. 
The stereo plotting system, VSD (Fig 4), produced by de Department of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Informatics of AGH 
represents a clever answer to the need of low-cost but high quality systems of recording cultural Heritage. Undoubtedly the greatest 
opportunity offered today in the field of architectural documentation is the availability of reasonably-priced systems and the prospect 
of even lower costs in the future, given that there will be sufficient demand. The potentiality of this demand is large, due to the fact 
that the field of architectural Heritage is in need of adequate documentation capable of solving problems in areas where more 
traditional means are unable to produce the same results. VSD is giving a real answer to these possibilities and offers real solutions 
to the problems of recording our architectural and archaeological Heritage. 
tember 18 - 21, 2001